Department of the Environment and Heritage Annual Report 2003-04
Department of the Environment and Heritage, 2004
ISSN 1441 9335
Operation of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (continued)
Australian Heritage Commission final report 1 July to 31 December 2003 (continued)
Chairman's report
It is with pleasure that I present the final report of the Australian Heritage Commission. It covers the period 1 July 2003 to 31 December 2003.
A new heritage system came into force on 1 January 2004 that now provides for the strong protection of Australia's most significant natural, Indigenous and historic heritage. This is a major step for Australia's heritage and represents the culmination of 28 years of the Commission's work. The Australian Heritage Commission, which was established in 1976, has served most effectively as the primary body responsible for heritage matters. It ceased operations on 31 December 2003 following the successful passage of the Australian Government's heritage legislation in September 2003.
On 1 January 2004, the Australian Heritage Council was established as the Australian Government's independent advisory body on heritage matters. The new Council assesses places for consideration for the new National and Commonwealth Heritage Lists and has wide-ranging responsibilities and powers to advise and investigate matters of interest and concern in the protection and promotion of Australia's heritage.
Other features of the new system include:
- a new National Heritage List of places of national heritage significance; and
- a new Commonwealth Heritage List of heritage places owned or managed by the Commonwealth.
The legislation that gives effect to these changes are:
- the Environment and Heritage Legislation Amendment Act (No. 1) 2003 which:
- amends the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) to include 'National Heritage' as a new matter of national environmental significance and protects listed places to the fullest extent of Commonwealth powers under the Constitution;
- establishes the National Heritage List; and
- establishes the Commonwealth Heritage List; and
- the Australian Heritage Council Act 2003, which establishes a new heritage advisory body to the Minister, the Australian Heritage Council, and retains the Register of the National Estate; and
- the Australian Heritage Council (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2003, which repeals the Australian Heritage Commission Act 1976, amends various Acts as a consequence of this repeal and allows for the transition to the new heritage system.
The Australian Heritage Commission has been instrumental in the development of the new heritage system. Passage of the legislation followed extensive consultation over seven years with government, non-government, industry groups and community bodies, involving discussion papers, technical workshops, a National Heritage Convention in 1998, and more than 70 briefings held nation-wide.
In launching the new heritage system in December 2003, the Hon Dr David Kemp, then Minister for the Environment and Heritage, said:
"The commission has been the premier agency for educating Australians on the protection of our important heritage places for almost three decades. It has done so in the absence of any comprehensive legal protection powers and should be acknowledged for the solid foundation it has built that has allowed us to move forward with this exciting and more powerful new system."
The Australian Heritage Commission supported all of the major elements of the new heritage system regarding the measures as the essential next step in the protection of Australia's heritage. The new system will build on the commission's extensive work. The commission's support and engagement in the development of the new system has been positive and creative and it has been my pleasure to be associated with its wide-ranging achievements.
Since the Australian Heritage Commission's establishment in 1976, the commission has been instrumental in identifying and protecting Australia’s heritage places. It has relied on the process of identification and publication to achieve some measure of protection. Upon its establishment, the commission was set the task of developing a national inventory for Australia's natural, historic and Indigenous heritage places, the Register of the National Estate. A massive body of intellectual capital has now been built based on the Register of the National Estate in practices, studies, standards and manuals. Under the new heritage system, the Register of the National Estate will be maintained and continue its important role of connecting groups and communities across Australia through their shared heritage.
The Australian Heritage Commission would like to place on record its appreciation of the help and cooperation it has received not only in the period 1 July 2003 to 31 December 2003, but over the many years from 1976 from the following:
- local, state, territory and Australian Government bodies, authorities and agencies;
- the many people connected with voluntary organisations involved in the conservation of cultural and natural heritage;
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and organisations throughout Australia; and
- experts who provided technical advice on the identification, assessment and conservation of the national estate.
Without this cooperation and assistance, freely given, the commission's work would have been much more difficult.
As chairman of the commission I would like to express my great appreciation of the work done over the many years by the commissioners, the executive director and staff, and the consistent dedication they demonstrated in advancing the commission's objectives and delivering the significant outcomes it can proudly claim.
While the physical legacy of the commission's 28 years is embodied in the Register of the National Estate, which comprises some 13 000 places of national significance and a large body of published works, the commission's richer legacy is the standing and general awareness heritage now has in the Australian community. It is also in the vast body of research and development of heritage practice that informs discussion of heritage identification, and management of heritage places not just in Australia but in many places around the world. It is a proud record of achievement that belongs to our predecessors as commissioners and the executive, staff and successive governments who have supported understanding and preservation of heritage as national goal.
Tom Harley
16 August 2004
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